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Seeking Mr Eaten's Name (Guide)
The old version of this guide has been moved to Seeking Mr Eaten's Name (old). Note that for the purposes of this guide, various qualities are often abbreviated. Seeking Mr Eaten's Name is SMEN, Unaccountably Peckish is UP, and Marsh-Mired in Dreams of Sustenance is MMiDoS. Beginning the Search So, you’ve decided to man/woman/other up and join the quest for the Name with other like-minded lunatics like ourselves! Good on you! The road ahead leads only to misery and damnation and woe and personal loss and financial ruin and loneliness and death and imprisonment, but no complaining allowed, you can’t say we didn’t warn you. Unfortunately, you can’t just up and decide "Oh I would like to search for the Name now" and start off right away. Every journey has a beginning, and for this one there are several. *'Be betrayed:' The most accessible way to start. At a later point in SMEN, betrayal is necessary to proceed, and the cheapest option is to betray other players. If you accept a betrayal, you will make a fellow Seeker very happy, and your request will likely be answered quickly. Requests for betrayals may be found in this forum thread. For those seeking from a brand-new character, you will need Watchful 30 to be betrayed, but this can be attained with easy leveling and gear like the Blemmigan Tourist on your first day. *'Exploring The Forgotten Quarter:' At The Airs of the Forgotten Quarter 81-100, Nightmares 5 and A Scholar of the Correspondence 1, you will unlock "In your dreams, you hear a voice echoing hollowly each night". *'Unaccountably Peckish:' There are nine cards unlocked by Unaccountably Peckish, one each for levels 1-9. Amongst the options are those unlocked by not having any Marsh-Mired in Dreams of Sustenance, all of which increase SMEN by 1 level up to varying caps. The options locked by MMiDoS all increase it, so it serves as a limiter on how frequently you can make use of these cards. Time, the Healer removes MMiDoS each week. Note: While you can begin the search via these cards, you may want to use one of the methods without a MMiDoS time limitation. That way you can get an easy level of SMEN from these cards immediately, instead of needing to wait a week. *'Having Recurring Dreams: Death by Water:' At Recurring Dreams: Death by Water 7, you will unlock a card called "A dream about your home". The "But the view outside your window isn’t right" option requiring 0 SMEN will set you on your first step towards damnation. *'Day 9: At your window:' During the Christmas season, players will receive visits from Mr. Sacks. If you accept a crumb of bread on Day 9, you may begin the search. So, you’re flirting with disaster, contemplating searching for the Name. Now what? A black-bordered card should show up... soon. First Steps thumbThe Northridden should turn their eye to their opportunity cards to wait for An Alphabet of Scars or A Banner with a Strange Device, where you have a choice to make. Either option appears to set you to SMEN 3, although the more gung-ho choice carries extra negative consequences. *'A WARNING:' On reaching SMEN 2 (or 3) you are given a choice, between opting in with the choice to continue this search, or to end the story entirely (at least for now). Ignore that, that’s not what you’re here for. Your course is set. You seek the name! "Why?" is a question for later. Now is an excellent time to boost your UP to 1 (exactly) and wait for the ACE OF HUNGERS (see below). That will get you your weekly shot of SMEN (to 4) and reduce UP back to 0. Around London Rarely, options around London can help in your search. If you're lucky. Most of these are functionally irrelevant, since starting your search properly will put you at SMEN 4, and in a week (at most) you'll be at SMEN 5. *'Look into the water (SMEN 1):' In the Nadir, gives +1 SMEN up to 4. *'Ask for help with a certain... obsession (SMEN 2-5):' From asking The Interpreter of Dreams about death by water. Gives +1 SMEN, if you're lucky. Only available with SMEN 2-5. *'Mr Pages' Educational Picture Postcards and Assorted Souvenir Stationery:' Mr. Pages' stall in the Labyrinth of Tigers gives SMEN on a (very) rare success, but only if you currently have SMEN 2-5. *'Accept the Name! (SMEN 3):' Mr. Sacks can help you, giving +1 SMEN up to 28. Unaccountably Peckish Seekers hunger for forbidden knowledge, but there are more literal hungers as well. Satisfy those cravings, and perhaps your scholarly cravings will be satisfied in turn. Gain * See what your Starveling Cat knows - Requires a Starveling Cat, as well as access to The Flit and progress in Embroiled in the wars of Illusion. Gives 3 UP. You can generally get a cat quickly by looking on this thread in the forums. * "Enough! Someone else can deal with you!" - Give your Starveling Cat to someone else for 1 UP. Good for trading back and forth with a dedicated alt, because it has no other prereqs. * Attend and speak of...terrible things. - Increases UP by 1. Requires access to The Shuttered Palace, Connected: The Duchess 10, pre-existing UP 2, *and* it has a bunch of other downsides. Loss * Buy some Rubbery Lumps - should you choose to brave the 'food', this will reduce UP by 2 for 50 pennies (even if you fail the challenge). Requires access to The Labyrinth of Tigers. * A basket but no list - sending Lyme to the market will reduce UP by 3. Requires access to Mahogany Hall. Opportunity cards All cards listed here are unlocked by increasing levels of Unaccountably Peckish (abbreviated as UP). All of them are Non-discardable and Ubiquitous Frequency, so as you increase UP your opportunity deck will rapidly tend towards only these. One or more options per card can increase SMEN by one level at varying costs. All of said options are locked with Marsh-Mired in Dreams of Sustenance, so you may only use them once per week. Beware: Every MMiDoS option will only increase your SMEN if it is three times the card's UP unlock at most. Don't waste your weekly chance. Detailed strategy The strategy for making use of these is complicated by the fact that the MMiDoS options vary between free and very punishing (depending on the card), the non-MMiDoS options all reduce UP and also vary between free and punishing, and the good options don't usually line up for MMiDoS and non-MMiDoS. You will want a Tier-3 lodging (at minimum) so you that if you get unlucky you can avoid playing 2 cards that have really bad consequences, until your UP is reduced enough that they go away. So once MMiDoS refreshes, build your UP to anywhere from 7-9 without drawing cards in between. Then draw cards and hope for (in preference order) the KNIGHT OF FEASTS, KNAVE OF REGRETS, SEVEN OF WORDS, SIX OF PEARLS, or the FIVE OF LIGHTS - these all have cheap MMiDoS options, with the first 3 being free. If you get unlucky and get none of them, use the non-MMiDoS option on the ACE OF HUNGERS or TWO OF BATS to reduce UP for (almost) free and try again. At lower levels of SMEN going for UP of 7 is probably fine, but to finish this part you'll need a SMEN of 21, which requires drawing at least the seven to advance. Now you can let your UP dwindle back down. The preferred order of play (taking into account how cards will disappear) is KNAVE OF REGRETS, SEVEN OF WORDS, TWO OF BATS, ACE OF HUNGERS, FIVE OF LIGHTS, SIX OF PEARLS, and lastly KNIGHT OF FEASTS (which does not decrease UP, but doesn't hurt much.) Do not play the THREE OF ROSES or FOUR OF EYES, they have very harsh consequences. Many of these cards increase wounds, some of them substantially, so rest up in-between cards as needed to avoid unplanned boat trips. All told, building up UP, getting your SMEN and then ramping back down, plus Menace management will probably take ~20 actions/week. Reference *'ACE OF HUNGERS:' You can't sleep for hunger. Your belly growls. You toss and turn. What is wrong here? Maybe roast chestnuts for 10 Piece of Rostygold would fix things. Maybe some rare meat for (100 x UP) pennies would be nice. Or perhaps you're not hungry, exactly, and should use (100 x UP) Drop of Prisoner's Honey. The latter two options give a level of SMEN. *'TWO OF BATS:' A courier in sombre livery approaches you in the street to hand you a note bearing the seal of Mr Iron. It reads: 'You are pursuing a name. End your pursuit now.' '' You can choose to rip the note to shreds, consume it to gain a level of SMEN, or heed its advice. Tearing it apart or consuming it will cause you to lose all, or at the very least most, of your . As cards go, this one is probably best ignored for MMiDoS, although it is ''excellent for UP reduction. *'THREE OF ROSES:' Stolid, heavy-gloved gardeners are hacking at a savagely thorned growth on the Shuttered Palace walls - bloody-ivy, a fortunately rare plant which here must have escaped from the Botanical Reserve. You can either notice something familiar in the ivy's curls, or snatch up the cuttings and eat them. This costs a moderate amount of Shadowy, Dangerous, and gives a moderate amount of Wounds, with the first option giving a level of SMEN. *'FOUR OF EYES:' The halfpeople in the streets watch you with hateful, ignorant eyes. They won't dare talk to you any more. You can either ask them the question, or curse their ignorance. This lets you sacrifice large amounts of many connections and Persuasive, with the first option giving a level of SMEN. *'FIVE OF LIGHTS:' A chandlery. You always seem to be passing chandleries. This one is ripe. You can either eat, costing 10 * UP^2 pennies; or you can burn, giving moderate Suspicion, a large amount of Wounds, and a level of SMEN. *'SIX OF PEARLS:' Omar the Tentmaker wrote: "I often wonder what the vintners buy, one half so precious as the goods they sell." Omar the Tentmaker was not familiar with the treasures of dentists. You can consume teeth. Either the teeth of others for nothing interesting, or your own for a large amount of Wounds and a level of SMEN. *'SEVEN OF WORDS:' In the hours before dawn, when he was drowned, you dream that you come to your door and knock on it. When you open it, you say: "I have a few questions. It's just procedure. Annex Thirty-Two requires as much." You can either answer the questions for a level of SMEN, or bake a pie for some Wounds. A perfectly mundane pie. *'KNAVE OF REGRETS:' Should you give something up? You have done so much harm. You can send a little present to another player, give to the church, give to the poor, or give up your Iron Knife Tokens. You could scream out of the window at passers-by. You also could seek help from an unlikely source to be Free of the Name, but why would you ever want to do that? The options about restitution give a level of SMEN, and increase Melancholy or Heartless (up to level 15) at the cost of the other. *'KNIGHT OF FEASTS:' So few of them know what you are. You speak and eat and smile like any other. Even your friends may not suspect. But sometimes it all gets too much. You are hungry. You may eat, or eat, or eat, or eat, or eat. You may, for undoubtedly foolish reasons, choose to end this search. Alternatively you may invite a dinner-guest for a level of SMEN, for once at no cost. Yet. Closer to the Name The Seeking Road In the wicker of a candle-flame, in the stir of still water, in the soft tick of hours before dawn, there is a voice. Listen, and it will ask. Do as it asks, and you will regret it. After gaining A Bad End from An Alphabet of Scars, you will have a number of options available in your Lodgings. More will appear as you continue to Seek the Name. Among things, these options let you increase SMEN faster than the UP cards, but less reliably and at greater cost. Avoid blackening your mind if possible, you'll need that Watchful later. Drowning your Secrets is cheapest but that's not saying much. The options with Watchful challenges all require 0 Sudden Insights - it's too late for second chances. *'Blacken your mind like paper (SMEN 2):' Halves your Watchful. If successful, increases SMEN. Watchful challenge of (100 + SMEN^2). *'Pervert your studies (SMEN 2):' Halves your A Scholar of the Correspondence. If successful, increases SMEN. ASotC challenge of (SMEN^2). *'Drown your Secrets (SMEN 4):' Requires (77 x SMEN) Appalling Secrets to possibly increase SMEN. Watchful challenge of (SMEN x 20). *'Set fires around the city (SMEN 6):'Requires (77 x SMEN) Mourning Candles to possibly increase SMEN. Watchful challenge of (SMEN x 15). *'Char yourself with Enigmas (SMEN 8):'Requires (7 x SMEN) Searing Enigmas to possibly increase SMEN. Watchful challenge of (SMEN x 10). *'Make a wild guess (SMEN 9):' Costs 77 Appalling Secrets for a low chance of gaining a Searing Enigma, with a rare failure that removes an Enigma. *'Grieve / Hate (SMEN 12):' Both only give a new quality: A Question. *'SEVEN IS THE NUMBER: Gain a Weeping Scar (SMEN 14):' Cover your body with the signs of your search. Carve the number into your flesh. Death is nothing before your purpose. Seven are the scars that will never heal. (The first scar will first come to you in a dream.) *'SEVEN IS THE NUMBER: Gain a Memory of Chains (SMEN 16):' Burden your mind with memories of what you have done, what you have suffered. The courts aid you, unwitting. You shall never be free. Seven are the chains that weight your mind. *'SEVEN IS THE NUMBER: Gain a Stain on your Soul (SMEN 18):' Mark your soul with the unspeakable. Only a monster can help you here, but soon you will be the monstrous one. Soon. Seven are the stains that mark your soul. **'WARNING': If your soul has been stained and you are currently soulless, do not enter the Forgotten Quarter. (I.E. if you have Your very own Infernal Contract. This is currently only possible by paying Fate to sell your soul at Hallowmas.) There you will be set upon by devils, who will attempt to rob you and forcibly insert your soul. If you succeed, you die. If you fail to escape, the following occurs: ***Lose all Favours: Hell. ***Lose all Echoes currently in your account. Every penny. ***Lose all your brass and (most) Infernal items. ***Lose any Cantigaster Venom, Ray-Drenched Cinders, Intriguer's Compendiums, and Dreadful Surmises you may possess. ***Regain your soul. ***Wounds increase to level 15, killing you instantly. ***Nightmares increase to level 15. (You will still be dead, and only go to the Mirror-Marches or state of some confusion after you recover from that.) *'Light a Taper (SMEN 18):' Using an Antique Mystery, Veils-Velvet Scrap, Impossible Theorem, and Vial of Masters' Blood, you may practice a forbidden rite to increase SMEN by 2, with no known cap. This will also remove your and grant a Dreadful Surmise. *'The Number and the Candles (SMEN 21):' The final Seven at last, written high in fire. This is your true purpose, your life's meaning: the reckoning shall come. (See below.) *'St Beau's Candle (SMEN 24):' See below. *'Light St Cerise's Candle (SMEN < 27):' Using a Dreadful Surmise, those who obtained St Cerise's Candle in the original SMEN may burn it for the materials needed to Light a Taper. Though this option is the inverse of Lighting a Taper, it will not return any you may have lost. *'St Cerise's Candle (SMEN 27):' See below. *'The Lower Mysteries (SMEN = 28):' After obtaining St Cerise's Candle, you may spend 7 Uncanny Incanabula for a hint as to your next step, and a level of SMEN. *'St Erzulie's Candle (SMEN 42):' See below. *'St Forthigan's Candle (SMEN 49):' See below. *'St Gawain's Candle (SMEN 63):' See below. *'Sleep with the Calling Card crumpled in your fist:' Those who possess Mr Eaten's Calling Card? may visit Winking Isle (see below). *'An Intimation:' Nothing is possible. Nothing is certain. *'Final Preparations (SMEN 77):' You will go NORTH. Winking Isle You will need Mr Eaten's Calling Card? to reach Winking Isle. The very fortunate might receive one from a former Seeker who no longer has use for theirs, so try asking on the forums. Otherwise, you must reach SMEN 29 and ask God's Editors for help (as either a member or a potential member). Only those who have asked A Question may enter the island proper. At Winking Isle, those who abandon worldly cares and possessions and have persistence and luck can fast and meditate to increase their SMEN to high levels without needing vast quantities of items. This is undoubtedly a terrible idea, but you've come so far already, given so much up. Why stop now? A detailed guide to Winking Isle can be found here. The general strategy is: #Prepare to 77 #Watch to 2000 #Circle while above 2000, unless: ##Watch if within 500 of target ##Wait if within 50 of target #Cash out at 60000 Winking Isle has no lighthouse. Enter anyways, if you so desire. It will cost you no candle. Candles St Arthur's Candle thumb Hint: Betray friends, lovers, innocents. After reaching SMEN 7, you will have A Dream of Dark Waters. This grants you your first Weeping Scar. After acquiring the first Scar, you must mark yourself further: at SMEN 14 you can acquire further Weeping Scars, at SMEN 16 you can acquire Memories of Chains, and at SMEN 18 you can acquire Stains on your Soul. At SMEN 21, with your body, mind, and soul each marked seven times, you can finally begin the search for St Arthur's Candle. You must commit seven betrayals (betraying other players is cheapest), and use seven Searing Enigmas to perform seven rituals. Once you have seven Footsteps of the False Saints, you can acquire the candle, along with a level of SMEN. St Beau's Candle thumb Hint: Midnight. You must have St Arthur's Candle and reach Seeking 24 to search for St Beau's Candle. Be sure to get 3330 Moon-pearls and 150 Memories of Light first, and note that you will lose all your Carnival Tickets when you start. You'll find the candle in the House of Mirrors, but to obtain it, you must give up something of great value: all of your Lodgings (only possible if one of them is a Lengthy Lease to Premises at the Bazaar), all of your Connections/Favours/Renown, Surrender your health (sets all 4 major menaces to 8), or 40 FATE. "Surrender your health" is probably the best course of action here, unless you've never invested much in Renown or your only lodgings are the Bazaar Premises and perhaps some "temporary" three-card lodging from the early-game and you've never gone through the laborious and expensive processes of upgrading any premises or obtaining an orphanage or salon. After this option, you're going to be in the Menace areas for quite a while, one after another (first the Slow Boat, then the State of Some Confusion/Mirror Marches, then New Newgate, then the Tomb-Colonies), so be sure to prepare for this before going to the Carnival and obtain enough Making Waves to maintain your Notability for a couple weeks (4x current Notability), as well as any items that will help you within the menace areas. For example, at least 1 Memories of Light if you want to go to the Mirror-Marches, 1 Tincture of Vigour to get a Tomb-Lion, 7 Skyglass Knives for prison (use up all your Favours: Criminals first to maximize this option), an assortment of weasels and bats to appease Death, and substantial amounts of Rostygold, Jade, Moon-Pearls, Surface Currency, Foxfire Candles, and a few Mourning Candles (upgrade from Luminosity items with Favours: Revolutionaries) to use as bribes or postage in prison and exile. Good Watchful-boosting items are useful for playing chess with the Boatman, and menace-reducing items will help you get out faster. (Also, keep in mind that Menace areas tend to impact Quirks, especially the Tomb-colonies with Hedonist and Austere.) St Cerise's Candle thumb Hint: Blood must be spilt. Unlocks at Seeking 27, with St Beau's Candle. You must sacrifice something precious to the well to obtain this candle. St Destin's Candle Hint: Surrender. Unlocks at Seeking 35. Does not require St Cerise's Candle. With 12 Notability and no Profession, you can gain St Destin's Candle when Slowcake's Amanuensis visits. Alternatively, if you haven't acquired a Destiny yet, you can visit an abyssal future and give the Lorn-Flukes The Name, although doing so means you will be destined for TORMENT. Alternatively alternatively, you and another Seeker can obtain St Destin's Candle together during Hallowmas. The sender needs St Cerise's Candle, SMEN 35, at least 77 in each stat, and all seven confessions; the recipient needs SMEN 3. This will give both players the candle, while halving the sender's stats and lowering the recipient's by quite a few levels. St Erzulie's Candle thumb Hint: Forget. Found in the Cave of the Nadir with Seeking 42 and St Destin's Candle. To obtain the candle, you must become Obscure, permanently giving up the ability to have Tattoos, Professions, Notability, Ambitions, and a Destiny. Although you don't actually have to do any of that. You can simply acquire the candle with no penalties whatsoever. If you prefer. Nobody will ever know—except you. St Fortigan's Candle Hint: Pray. Unlocks at Seeking 49. You must have the previous five candles and your own Ship. Acquire a Book of Crimson Prayer, then you can sail to the Chapel of Lights. Attend six services to acquire the sixth candle. St Gawain's Candle Hint: You will never achieve this candle, and even if you were to do so, you would lose the very head from your shoulders. Unlocks at Seeking 63. This quest comes in two parts -- the first requires St Cerise's candle, the second requires St Fortigan's. In order to go North, you must first go South. Then you will visit the Chapel once more. Note: Returning from the Chapel of Lights leaves you with negative several billion opportunity cards. This is a bug, and can be easily fixed by going to zee, or any other location with a separate card deck. NORTH Upon reaching Seeking 77, an option from The Seeking Road can be chosen once you have all seven candles. This will grant you the quality Embarked on an Expedition to the North, locking The Seeking Road permanently. At zee, you can choose the destination of NORTH, bringing you to the Avid Horizon to complete your quest. At the brink you may turn back, the last chance to save yourself, or press on. NOTE: The Avid Horizon content features a message from Failbetter Games explicitly requesting that nothing beyond that point be publicly shared. That includes this wiki. Those who turn back will find themselves home with a unique item and no further consequences. Returning automatically triggers Giving up the Search for the Name. Choosing Turn back will remove most, but not all, qualities associated with Seeking; choosing Not yet will not remove anything, but The Seeking Road and NORTH will remain inaccessible. Category:The Airs of the Forgotten Quarter A Scholar of the Correspondence Category:Guides